Kolkata, January 14, 2026: The closing rounds of the Tata Steel Chess India Blitz delivered relentless tension, late twists, and fitting champions in both sections.
In the Open event, Wesley So showed remarkable consistency to clinch the title with a round to spare, while the Women’s section ended with a thrilling playoff that saw Carissa Yip hold her nerve to lift the trophy.
The decisive stretch saw Wesley capitalise when Vidit Gujrathi blundered an entire rook in a double rook endgame. Wei Yi outplayed Viswanathan Anand by calmly consolidating an extra exchange, while R Praggnanandhaa opened lines for his rook and established a powerful knight outpost to defeat Hans Niemann. Nihal Sarin also struck with a key win over Anand, while Wesley held Wei Yi to maintain control of the standings.
As the finish line approached, Arjun Erigaisi scored a notable win by preventing Anand from castling, but Wesley stayed just ahead despite several tense endgames, including a draw where he blundered back an exchange against Aravindh Chithambaram.
A safe draw against Hans ensured Wesley’s title, even though he lost in the final round. Nihal finished second and Arjun third, both on 11 points.
The Women’s section was equally gripping. Vaishali Rameshbabu scored a convincing win over Stavroula Tsolakidou, while Aleksandra Goryachkina surged late, including a remarkable game featuring four queens on the board against Nana Dzagnidze. Vantika Agrawal produced a stunning comeback by winning her last four games, including a crucial victory over Yip, to force a playoff.
In the tiebreak, Vantika lost first, Carissa held firm in a long and exhausting endgame in the second game to secure the draw she needed and seal the Women’s Blitz title.
ROUND WISE RESULTS
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| OPEN | ||||||||
| Volodear Vs Arjun – Arjun Won | Pragg Vs Aravindh – Pragg Won | Volodar Vs Hans – Volodar won | Arjun Vs Anand – Arjun Won | Nihal Vs Hans – Hans Won | Vidit Vs Wei Yi – Vidit won | Aravindh Vs Wesley – Draw | Vidit Vs Anand – Draw | Nihal Vs Wei Yi – Nihal won |
| Wei Yi Vs Anand – Wei Yi Won | Wesley Vs Volodar – Wesley Won | Vidit Vs Pragg – Vidit won | Wesley Vs Nihal – Draw | Arvindh Vs Arjun – Arjun Won | Hans Vs Anand – Hans Won | Wei Yi Vs Volodar – Wei Yi won | Pragg Vs Arjun – Pragg Won | Aravindh Vs Hans – Hans won |
| Vidit Vs Wesley – Wesley Won | Arjun Vs Wei Yi – Draw | Aravindh Vs Anand – Draw | Hans Vs Wei Yi – Hans Won | Volodar Vs Vidit – Draw | Pragg Vs Nihal – Nihal won | Arjun Vs Hans – Hans won | Volodar Vs Nihal – Volodar won | Wesley Vs Pragg – Pragg won |
| Pragg Vs Hans – Pragg Won | Anand Vs Nihal – Nihal Won | Wei Yi Vs Wesley – Draw | Pragg Vs Volodar – Pragg won | Anand Vs Wesley – Draw | Volodar Vs Aravindh – Volodar Won | Nihal Vs Vidit – Draw | Wei Yi Vs Aravindh – Wei Yi won | Arjun Vs Vidit – Draw |
| Aravindh Vs Nihal – Draw | Hans Vs Vidit – Hans Won | Nihal Vs Arjun – Nihal won | Vidit Vs Aravindh – Vidit won | Wei Yi Vs Pragg – Wei Won | Wesley Vs Arjun – Draw | Anand Vs Pragg – Draw | Hans Vs Wesley – Draw | Anand Vs Volodar – Anand won |
| WOMEN | ||||||||
| Stavroula Vs Divya – Draw | Nana Vs Rakshita – Rakshita Won | Stavroula Vs Vaishali – Vaishali won | Divya Vs Aleksandra – Aleksandra won | Kateryna Vs Vaishali – Kateryna won | Carissa Vs Vantika – Vantika won | Rakshita Vs Harika – Rakshita won | Carissa Vs Aleksandra – Carissa won | Kateryna Vs Vantika – Vantika won |
| Vantika Vs Aleksandra – Draw | Harika Vs Stavroula – Draw | Carissa Vs Nana – Draw | Harika Vs Kateryna – Draw | Rakshita Vs Divya – Divya won | Vaishali Vs Aleksandra – Aleksandra won | Vantika Vs Stavroula – Vantika won | Nana Vs Divya – Draw | Rakshita Vs Vaishali – Vaishali won |
| Carissa Vs Harika – Harika Won | Divya Vs Vantika – Divya Won | Rakshita Vs Aleksandra – Rakshita won | Vaishali Vs Vantika – Vantika won | Stavroula Vs Carissa – Draw | Nana Vs Kateryna – Draw | Divya Vs Vaishali – Vaishali won | Stavroula Vs Ketryna – Stavroula won | Harika Vs Nana – Nana won |
| Nana Vs Vaishali – Nana Won | Aleksandra Vs Kateryna – Kateryna Won | Vantika Vs Harika – Harika won | Nana Vs Stavroula – Nana won | Aleksandra Vs Harika – Draw | Stavroula Vs Rakshita – Stavroula won | Kateryna Vs Carissa – Draw | Vantika Vs Rakshita – Vantika won | Divya Vs Carissa – Draw |
| Rakshita Vs Kateryna – Rakshita Won | Vaishali Vs Carissa – Carissa Won | Kateryna Vs Divya – Kateryna won | Carissa Vs Rakshita – Draw | Vantika Vs Nana – Nana won | Harika Vs Divya – Draw | Aleksandra Vs Nana – Aleksandra won | Vaishali Vs Harika – Vaishali won | Aleksandra Vs Stavroula – Stavroula won |
TATA STEEL CHESS INDIA BLITZ FINAL STANDING
| OPEN | WOMEN | ||
| NAME | POINT | NAME | POINT |
| Wesley So | 12 | Carissa Yip | 10.5 (1.5 – 0.5) decided by tie break |
| Nihal Sarin | 11 | Vantika Agarwal | 10.5 |
| Arjun Erigaisi | 11 | Stavroula Tsolakidou | 10 |
| Hans Niemann | 10 | Aleksandra Goryachikna | 9.5 |
| Vidit Gujrathi | 10 | Vaishali R | 9.5 |
| R Praggnanandhaa | 9.5 | Nana Dzagnidze | 8.5 |
| Wei Yi | 8.5 | Katreryna Lagno | 8.5 |
| Viswanathan Anand | 8 | Divya Deshmukh | 8.5 |
| Volodar Murzin | 6 | Harika Dronavalli | 8 |
| Aravindh Chithambaram | 4 | Rakshitta Ravi | 6.5 |
